388 T. H. Hendley — An Account of Hie Malic <ir Blah. [Xo. 4, 



Note. 



The following Extract from the Political Report of the Superintendent 

 of the Hilly Tracts of Maiwar may be of interest in connection with my 

 remarks on the religion of the Bhils. 



"A reformer, Surji, a Bhil Guru, has for some years past been at work 

 among his countrymen on the Maiwar- Gujarat frontier. He preaches 

 worship of one God, peace and goodwill. His followers take an oath to 

 abstain from all crimes and offences, spirituous liquor, and from causing 

 death to any living thing. They bind themselves to live by the produce of 

 the soil, and to bathe before eating. Surji has now a following of upwards 

 of one thousand " bhagats", or believers, and three disciples, Gurus, or- 

 dained by himself to preach and convert. 



" I saw and conversed with him in February last when I was travelling 

 in the district. He asked for protection to his followers in Dungarpur 

 territory, where the other Bhils, he said, annoyed them by calling them 

 " Musalman" (with them meaning ' infidel'). His influence in securing fol- 

 lowers has spread as far as Khairwaraand Kotrah. 



" I talked with a number of his converts, and they said that they had 

 prospered since they had been guided by the Guru to do as they had sworn. 

 They certainly looked in every way superior to their unreclaimed brethren." 



With reference to the above, Mr. Lyall, the Agent for the Governor- 

 General, observes that " All over India, the appearance of teachers of this 

 cast of mind among the non-Aryan tribes may be noticed." The ' Pioneer' 

 of December 29th, also quotes the ' Evangelical Review', which describes 

 the rapid progress of conversion to Hinduism among the Mhairs, due mainly 

 to the presence of high caste Hindus from the North "West Provinces 

 amongst them (in the Mhairwara Regiment) as drill instructors. A similar 

 movement was also noted in the Deoli Irregular Force. 



These facts are very interesting in connection with the remarks made 

 in my paper, and show the universal desire of the wilder tribes to rise in 

 the social scale. Rajputana is a great centre of religious revivalism and 

 change. The Ramsnehis, having their head quarters at Bhilwara and Shah- 

 pura in Maiwar ; the Dadu Panthis at Narana near Sambhar ; and 

 other sects, seem to hold views similar to those of Surji, the Bhil. 



